National Republican., 1887-01-10

BROOKLYN, Jan. 9.-The opening hymn OF
the Brooklyn Tabernacle this morning be-
gins:
30, could speak the matchless worth
o. could sound the glories forth
Which in my Saviour shine |"
Dr. Talmage explained some of the prophe-
cles before giving out the hymn, and then
preached on the subject distribution Of Re-
wards" taking his text from Isaiah ill., -:
He snail divide the spoil with the strong"
Dr. Talmage spoke as follows:
My family, whoeaw 1t with their own eyes
year before last, tell me that in the Coliseum
at Rome, where prosecutors used TO let out the
halfstarved lions to eat up Christians, there Is
now planted the figure of cross. And re.
joice to know that the upright piece OF wood
nailed to transverse piece has become the
symbol, not more of suffering than of victory.
II Is of Christ the Conqueror that my text
speaks. AS kingly warrior, having suodued
an empire. might divide the palaces and man
sions. and g ties and valleys, and mountains
smong his officers so Christ Is going to divide
up all the earth, and all the heavens, among
his people, and you and l. will have to take
our share II we are strong in faith and strong
in our Christian loyalty Tor my text declares
it HE shall divide thespoil with the strong"
The capture Of this round planet for Christ is
not so mi much Of a job as you might imagine.
its sleeves for the work, as IT will. There are
sixteen hundred millions OF people now in the
WOTlu, ana tnere fOur nuuQreu anu utty
million Christians. Subtract the four hundred
and fifty millions who are Christians from the
sixteen hundred millions, and there are eleven
hundred and hity millions left to be Christian.
lied. Now, divide the eleven hundred and
iifty millions by the four. hundred and dfy
millions already Christianized, and 1t makes
less than three people for each Christian TO
bring to Christ. Surely, when the church gets
wide awake no Christian will be content to
take to heaven less than three. Why, hope
10 take with me at least ten thousand. know
hat a mt TO
thousand each for the kingdom. There are at
lenst two hundred thousand men in Chrlsten-
dom whose one business It Is to save souls. SO
that when tell you all that wo need 70 aver
age Is three souls reaped Tor God In lifetime,
oil idea Of impossibiliy yanishes from this
omnipotent crusade. l know of a Sabbath
different classes during all these years,
and she tells me they averaged about
converted, and five times seven are thrty.flve,
as near as can calculate She brought her
three and had thiIty-twoto TO spare. Ny grand
mother brought her whole family into the
Kingdom, and her grandchildren, and, / hope
all her great grandchildren, for God remem-
bers q prayer seventy five years old us well as
though II were minute old, and she took her
three into the kingdom, and had at least a
hundred to spare. Besides that the telegraph
and telephone will within few years put the
whole earth into compass of ten minutes.
Consider this and also that omnipotence and
omniscience, and omlpresence preside over all
the work OF betterment, and you Will take this
enterprise of the worlds redemption out OF the
impossibilities into the possibilities and then
out OF the possibilities into the probabilities
and then out of the probabilities into the Ger
tainties; The building of the Union Pacific
railroad from ocean 10 ocean was q greater
undertaking than the girdling OF the earth
with the gospel for the one enterprise de.
pended upon the human arm. while the other
del ends upon Almightlness.
DO really mean that all the earth will sur.
render to Christ? Yes. How about the unln-
yitiDg portions? Win Greenland be eyanqel.
lied l.? The possibility is that after a few more
hundrt d brave lives are dashed out among the
lcebergs, that great refrigerator, the polar
region, Will be given up TO the Walrus and tho
bear, and that the Inhabitants Will come down
by invitation into tolerable climates, or those
climates may soften, and, us II has been posi-
lively demonstrated that the Arctic region was
once u blooming garden and a fruitful field,
those .regions may change climate and again
be blooming garden and a fruitful field. 1t
is proved beyond controversy by German and
American scientists that the Arctic regions
we're the first portions OF this world inhabited;
the world hot beyond human indurance; those
regions were, OF course, the first to be cODl
enough for human foot and human lung, II
is positively proved that that Arctic
region was tropical climate. Prof Heer, OF
Zurich, says the remains of flowers have been
found In the Arctic, showing 1t was like Mex
leo for climate, and II is found that the Arctic